Machine for shaping the backs of unbound books



C. SCHRAMM June 28, 1932.

MACHINE FOR SHAPING THE BACKS OF UNBOUND BOOKS Filed Feb. 12, 1952 5Sheets-Sheet 1 June 28, 1932. SCHRAMM 1,864,557

MACHINE FOR SHAPING THE BACKS OF UNBOUND BOOKS Filed Feb. 12, 1952SSheets-Sheet 5 r 6 ag Patented June 28, 1932 UNITED CARL SCHRAMM, OFWEST HARTFORD, CONN ECTIGU '1,.ASSIGNOR TO THE SIr'EY'lH MAN- UFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF HARTFOBD, CONNECTICUT, .A CORPORATION OF CON- NECTICUTMACHINE FOR snarrne 'rrrn BACKS or nnnonnzo BOOKS Application filedFebruary 12, 1932. Serial No. 592,483.

This invention relates to machines for shaping the backs of unboundbooks, of the type disclosed in United States Patent No.1,802,355,April28,1931. a

Often books which are to be jointed are composed of thicker signatureson one side than the other; sometimes the back edge of one or more ofthe signatures on one side or the other will be below theremainingsignatures; frequently books are presented which have distortedbacks, that is, have one side higher than the other, occasionally bookstobe jointed come trimmed with their front edges out of square, or withdeckle or rough edges;

and it may occur that the stitching of the signatures is tighter at oneend ofthe backs than at the other; all of which contingencies, unlessrectified, tend to cause the machine to form joints which are notuniform on each side or are not the same from end to end,-

whether the books are to be finished with flat backs or round backs.

The object of the present invention is to provide means which willjustify the backs of unbound books of various sizes as-they are fed intothe jointingmachine, so that the joints will be formed uniform on eachside and will be the same for the entire length ofthe backs.

In the back shaping machine which is provided with mechanisms thatembody this invention, the books are advanced, by suitable feed meanswith their front edges resting on a supporting bar, to a positionbetween yielding blocks that engage the sides just below the round tothe backs.

backs and straighten up and sustain? the books upright. When the booksare thus supported plates descend and by pressure against the backslevel and impart an initial As the leveling plates are about to beraised, rolls carried by the same slides that carry the righting blocks,are pinched against the sides of the books and rotated so as tosimultaneously complete the rounding of the backs and elevate thebooks.

In this lifted position the books are grasped by jaws and carried to theclamps that hold them while they are being jointed.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 illustrates a side elevation of themechanism for reciprocating the slides which carry the righting blocksand the rounding rolls against the sides of the book. Fig. 2 on largerscale shows a plan of a fragment of these slides'with the rightingblocks and rounding rolls. Fig. 3 is a section taken on the planeindicated by the dotted line 33 on Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a front elevationof the mechanism for vertically i reciprocating the slide carrying'theleveling plates. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the mechanism for reciprocating the leveling plates. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the mechanismfor rotating the rounding rolls. Fig. 7 is a plan with portions brokenaway'of the rounding roll rotating mechanism. Fig. 8 is a diagrammaticview illustrating the relative positions of a book, righting blocks,leveling plates and rounding rolls, as the tween these elements. Fig. 9is a similar view illustrating the action of the leveling plates. Fig.10 is a similar view illustrating the action of the rounding rolls.

The books 1 are fed endwise into the ma chine along a horizontalsupporting bar 2 between side plates 3, by any suitable mechanism', forexample, such as that illustrated and described in the patent abovereferred to. The'upper surface of the supporting bar is convex if-thebacks of the books are to be rounded, but it may be flat if the backs ofthe books are to be finished square. The supporting bar is mounted on arail 4, with interposed cushioning springs 5, the rail being attached atits ends to posts 6 that may be raised or lowered by screws 7 and gears8, as in the prior machine. The bar is adjusted vertically toaccommodate books of different widths, and the cushions on the springscompensate for slight difi'erences in the width of the books or bookswhich have rough front edges, or books which have been imperfectlytrimmed. I

The feed delivers thebooks between similar horizontally movable slides 9which carry righting blocks 10 and rounding rolls 11. Attached to thetops of the slides are straight racks 12 that are engaged'by curvedracks 13 at the lower ends of angle levers 14;,Fig. 1.

The upper ends of the angle levers are pro book is first fed bepinch thebooks.

vided with intermeshing curved racks so that the slides will be operatedsynchronously. One of the angle levers has an extension 16 that isconnected by a rod 17 with the upper end of an angle lever 18. The lowerend of the lever 18 is connected with a collar 19 on a link 20 that isjointed to a rocker arm 21 which has a roll 22 that lies in a cam groove23 in the disk 24 on the cam shaft 25. Between the collar 19 and nuts 26on the end of the link 20 is a relatively stiff spring 27. Lightersprings 28 are arranged between the outer ends of the slides and theframe of the machine, Fig. 1. r a r When the roll 22 passes to the highare of the cam 23 the link 20 through the spring 27 causes the lever 18and rod 17 to rock the angle levers 14 in such direction that the slides9 move toward each other and the rounding rolls pressheavily against thesides of the book. As the roll passes to the low arc of the cam thetension of the heavy spring 27 is relieved and the slides are pressedinward only by the tension of the lighter springs 28, their inwardmovement at this time being limited, by the adjustment of the stop screw29 that is set to engage the collar 19 at the lower end of the anglelever 18, Fig. 1.

The righting blocks 10 engage the books just below the backs and keepthem straight. The blocks are movable along projecting ledges 30 at theinner edges of the slides 9, and they are pressed toward the books bysprings 31, Fig. 3. There may be any number of these blocks and they arepositioned according to the height of the books which they are tostraighten and support. The springs 31 normally retain the faces of theblocks a slight distance in advance of the rounding rolls so they mayguide and straighten the books as they are fed between them, but theyyield when the slides are closed for causing the rounding rolls totightly Wedges 32 are fastened to the blocks by screws 33 that passthrough slots 34 in the wedges into the blocks. Studs 35 extend upwardfrom the slide through slots 36 in the blocks. The wedges are set toengage the studs for the purpose of limiting the inward movement of theblocks under the pressure of the springs 31, Figs. 2, 3.

When straightened and sustained by the righting blocks the backs of thebooks are engaged and pressed down by vertically movplates 37, asillustrated in Fig. 9. There may be any number of these level ableleveling ing plates, and if the book backs are to be rounded theleveling plates have concave lower edges, but if the backs are to beflat' the leveling plates may have flat lower edges.

The two leveling plates shown are fastened to stems 38 by a pivot stud39 and a screw and slot connection 40 so that they may be oscillatedtransversely to the backs of the books and adjusted to books thesignatures of which may be thicker on one side than the other. The stems38 are fastened to slides 41, the front stem preferably by a screw andslot connection 42, so that the front plate may be adjusted verticallywith relation to the rear plate, to properly act on books that happen tobe sewed tighter at one edge than the other. The slides 41 areadjustable horizontally along an arm 43 so that they may be located inthe required positions for engaging the backs of books of differentwidths, Figs. 4, 5.

The arm. 43 extends horizontally forward from the lower end of avertically movable slide 44. This slide has a link 45 that is connectedby an adjusting screw 46 with one end of an angle lever 47. A rod 48connects the other end of this lever with a screw 49 which is mounted ina rocker arm 50 on av shaft 51 that has a rocker arm 52 with a roll 53lying in the cam groove 54 of a disk 55 on the cam shaft, Fig. 4. Thiscam is timed to cause the leveling plat-es to engage the backs and pressthe books down on the sup porting bar and impart the initial shape tothe backs while the books are sustained by the right-ing blocks. Theleveling plates remain in that position until the rounding rolls havebeen pinched tightly against the sides of the book by the mechanismpreviously mentioned, and then the leveling plates are lifted. Byturning the screw 49 on the rocker 50 the amount of vertical travel ofthe leveling plates may be adjusted, and by turning the screw 46 thelimits of the up and down movement of the leveling plates may bedetermined. The movements of the leveling plates are adjusted withrelation to the rounding rolls.

After the books are pressed down onto the supporting bar and therounding rolls tightly closed against the sides the leveling plates areraised and the rolls are rotated. so as to lift the books, and by theirrolling pressure on the sides complete the rounding of the backs. Thegreater the upward feed of the rolls the more the backs will be rounded.On the outer ends of the rounding rolls are pinion teeth 56. These areengaged by gears 57 in mesh with gears 58 on shafts 59 that have spiralgears 60 which are engaged by spiral gears 61 on a shaft 62, Fig. 6. Atone end of this shaft is a bevel pinion 63 that is engaged by a toothedsegment 64 on a shaft 65 which has a rocker arm 66. This rocker arm isconnected by a link 67 with a screw 68 carried by the upper limb of alever 69. This lever at its lower end has a roll 7 0 that lies in a camgroove 71 in the disk 72 on the cam shaft, Fig. 6.

The cam 71 is timed to, through the lever, link and gears, cause therolls after they have been pinched against the sides of the book. rotateand lift the book. By turning the unease? screw'68 the amountof'thisliftingmovement of the rolls may be adjusted.

If it is desired to finish a book with .a fiat back a flat supportingbar is substituted for the convex bar shown and leveling plates withstraight edges aresubstituted for the plates with concave edges, and therounding rolls are restrained from pinching the books.

After the backs are shaped the books are clamped and carried betweenjaws which are closed against the sides so as to hold them securelyWhile the backs are being ironed over the edges of the jaws to form thejoints, 'by such mechanism as is shown in the priorpat- L ent referredto. This mechanism is adapted to be used to justify, that is,straighten, align and sustain in required shape and posit-ion, the backsof unbound" books of various heights, widths, and thicknesses, so thatthey will be jointed with exactness, even should they be trimmedunevenly, or stitched tighter at top or bottom, or have thickersignatures on one side than the other.

The invention claimed is 1. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unboundbooks which comprises means for supporting the books, means movabletoward the sides of the books for straightening and sustaining thebacks, means movable against the backs while sustained for pressing thebacks into initial shape, and means movable with the straightening andsustaining means for elevating the books.

2. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesayielding supporting bar, means for vertically adjusting said bar, meansmovable toward the sides of the books for straightening and sustainingthe backs, means movable against the backs while sustained for pressingthe backs into initial shape, and means movable with the straighteningand sustaining means for elevating the books.

3. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprises asupporting bar with a convex upper surface, means for raising andlowering said bar, springs inter posed between said bar and the raisingand lowering means, means movable toward the sides of the books forstraightening and sustaining the backs, means movable against the backswhile sustained for pressing the backs into initial shape, and meansmovable with the straightening and sustaining means for elevating thebooks.

4. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, yielding blocks movable toward the sidesof the books for straightenng and sustaining the book backs, meansmovable against the book backs while sustained by the blocks forpressing the backs into initial shape, and means movable with the blocksfor elevating the books.

5. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supby said slides for straightening and sustaining the bookbacks, means for adjusting said.

blocks transversely of the movements of the slides, means movableagainst the book backs while sustained by the blocks for pressing thebacks 'into initial shape, and means movable'with the slides forelevating the books.

"7. Mechanism forshaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, slides movable toward the sides of thebooks, yielding blocks carried by said slides for straightening andsustain-, ing the book backs, means for adjusting said blockslongitudinally of and transversely of the movements of the slides, meansmovable against the book backs while sustained by the blocks forpressing the backs into, initial shape, and means movable with theslides for elevating the books.

8. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, slides movable toward the sides of thebooks, blocks mounted on said slides for straightening and sustainingthe book backs, means movable against the book backs while sustained bythe blocks for pressing the backs into initial shape, androlls movablewith the slides for elevating the books.

9. .Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeansfor supporting the books, slides movable toward the sides of thebooks, blocks yieldingly mounted on theslides for straightening andsustaining the book backs, means movable against the book backs whilesustained by the blocks for pressing the backsinto intial shape, androlls movable with the slides for elevating the 11. Mechanism forshaping the backs of unbound books which comprises means for supportingthe books, means movable horizontally toward the sides of the books forstraightening and sustaining the book backs, leveling plates movablevertically against the backs while sustained for pressing the backs intoinitial shape, and means movable with the straightening and sustainingmeans for elevating the books.

12. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, means movable horizontally toward thesides of the books for straightening and sustaining the book backs, avertically movable slide, leveling plates carried by the slide againstthe backs while sustained for pressing the backs into initial shape,means for effecting the vertical adjustment of the plates with relationto the slide, and means movable with the straight ening and sustainingmeans for elevating the books.

13. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, means movable horizontally toward thesides of the books for straightening and sustaining the book backs, avertically movable slide, leveling plates carri ed by the slide againstthe backs while sustained for pressing the backs into initial shape,means for effecting an oscillatory adjustment of the plates withrelation to the slide, and means movable with the straightening andsustaining means for elevating the books.

14. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, means movable horizontally toward thesides of the books for straightening and sustaining the book backs, avertically movable slide, leveling plates carried by the slide againstthe backs While sustained for pressing the backsinto initial shape,means for effecting a transverse adjustment of the plates with relationto the slide, and means movable with the straightening and sustainingmeans for elevating the books.

15. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, means movable horizontally toward thesides of the books for straightening and sustaining the book backs, avertically movable slide, mechanism for reciprocating the slide, saidmechanism including adjusting means which permits of varying the lengthof the slide movements and permits of varying the limits of the slidemovements, leveling plates carried by the slide against the backs whilesustained for pressing the backs into initial shape, and means movablewith the straightening and sustaining means for elevating the books.

16. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books whichcomprisesmeans for supporting the books, slides movable horizontallytoward the sides of the books, blocks yieldingly mounted on the slidesfor straightening and sustaining the book backs, leveling plates movablevertically against the book backs while sustained by the blocks forpressing the backs into initial shape, and rolls movable with the slidesfor elevating the books.

17. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, slides movable horizontally toward thesides of the books, blocks yieldingly mounted on the slides forstraightening and sustaining the book backs, and leveling plates movablevertically against the book backs while sustained by the blocks forpressing the backs into initial shape.

18. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, means movable horizontally toward thesidesof the books for straightening and sustaining the book backs, avertically movable slide, leveling plates carried by the slide againstthe backs while sustained for pressing the backs into initial shape, andmeans for effecting an oscillatory aldg'lustment of the plateswitlrrelation to the s 1 e.

19. Mechanism for shaping the backs of unbound books which comprisesmeans for supporting the books, slides movable horizontally toward thesides of the books, blocks yieldingly mounted on the slides forstraightening and sustaining the book backs, and means movablevertically against the backs while sustained for pressing the backs intoinitial shape.

CARL SCHRAMM.

